Part 3: Wild Things

As you get older, you realize how fast time flies when you are having so much fun.  If you get dementia, you forget details of current events, your life history, your loved ones, and so many memories to the point that life feels like it is moving at a snail pace.  When I am with grandma, I find myself constantly wondering "What is she thinking?"

Grandma and my girls

She starts in with her questions of who, what, when, and where?  I realize the memories are absent or jumbled to her.  She often tells me she is crazy, but I always tell her that she is not.  I remind her that she is 86 years old and our minds play tricks on us as we get older.  I don't know if she really understands, but she does seem to trust me. As we continued our trip to Sheridan, I felt that trust from her.

She knew we were going somewhere special, and she took in all the sights.  We had to drive by several schools.  Vines had taken over on the road between Bauxite and Sheridan.  She laughed and mentioned that someone wasn't doing their job.  She took in all the pretty houses and trees.  I told her to rest, but she was too busy taking in the sights.

She started talking about bears and how scared she was of bears.  She said that if you keep food in your pocket and a bear is close by, then he will get the food and you too!!!  LOL.. I wanted to ask.. Is that why you threw the cornbread out the window and risked the $1000 fine??

Aunt Ruby at
Grandma's house

It was a 30 minute ride to Sheridan.  She told me about her 9 brothers and sisters.  She was able to list every one of them.  Lester, Earlsel, Ruby, Henry, Audrey, Grandma, Melvin, Robbie Lee, Rosie Lee, and Bessie Dee.  She reminisced about how Henry was the good looking brother.  Lester was the tall one and always seemed jealous of how good looking Henry was.  Then she talked about Aunt Ruby.

Holland, Aunt Ruby's
first husband

Aunt Ruby's first husband was a good looking man named Holland.  Aunt Ruby loved him. Grandma went on and on about how highly she thought of Holland.  Holland and Aunt Ruby got married and according to grandma it wasn't too long after that World War II started and he was shipped off to the war.  From the picture, it appears he was in the army.  Grandma said he died in the war.  She said Ruby was devastated.  I had never heard this story.

We made it to Sheridan to see my cousin Ashley and Uncle Brent and their families.  Ashley is one of my favorite cousins.  She is one of those Leave it to Beaver mothers.  You know, the kind that can take anything and turn it into something.  She is the coupon queen in my eyes.  She calls her kids "The Wild Things."  This makes me laugh every time I read it.

Thing 6 and me!

A friend of mine recently went to Universal Studios and bought a shirt that said "Mother of All Things."  She also bought all her kids tshirts that said "Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, etc."  This should be Ashley.  She is the mother of all THINGS!  She is just awesome at being a mother.  She has 6 kids!  YES, 6 KIDS!  We laugh every time she tells Grandma how many kids she has because grandma scrunches up her nose and says "oh my word, honey."

Sweet Emma with Grandma

Out of the 6 kids, she has one girl.  Poor thing doesn't have a chance.  Emma appears to be the sweetest little girl.  She could pass as another one of my kids, and I would gladly take her home with me in a heartbeat.  With five brothers, I know there has to be a mean streak in her somewhere.  LOL

Anyway, Grandma loved sitting on Uncle Brent's porch in the rocking chair in the 110 degree heat.  Emma sat beside her in another rocking chair and just smiled and catered to Grandma.  Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Brent both came out and we shared the events of the day.  Of course, grandma wanted to know who everyone was and constantly asked Ashley how many kids she had.  Ashley's other kids...Things 1, 2, and 4 ran around showing their skills at running and playing ball, and they also helped control the dogs.

Uncle Brent helping
Grandma to the
car.

After a short visit, I told Grandma it was time to go.  She really did enjoy it.  She told Uncle Brent to come see her.  He comes every Sunday to take care of her.  He told her he would bring chicken now that she has teeth.  It touched my heart to watch him help her to the car.

We drove away, and I went back over the visit at Uncle Brent's house.  Grandma talked about the little girl on the porch.  She couldn't remember her name but she talked about how sweet she was.  I reminded her that Uncle Brent would be bringing her chicken on Sunday, and we had to go get her teeth so she could eat it.  This is when I realized how wore out she was getting.

Grandma and Grandpa with
the great grandkids.

She had forgotten the goal for the day.  We drove back to Bryant.  I stopped at Crackerbarrel and got her a vegetable plate to go. We went and got her teeth and were on our way home.

Now, it is one thing to deal with just Dementia Grandma.  It is another thing to deal with Dementia Very Tired Grandma.  She can read every sign and keeps up with every exit!

She kept telling me that I could let her out at White Hall and she would walk the rest of the way to her house.  For some reason, she had it in her mind that I was going to Lake Village.  I realized after I saw the sign that she had been keeping up with where we were going.  I tried to calm her down by informing her that we were going to her house.

When we got to her house, she was tired and ready to relax.  I fixed her dinner and told her Daddy would be over later.  I went to Mom's and literally took two days to recover from that trip!  I really don't know how my dad does it every day!!! Just 10 hours with Grandma was a workout for me!

Next Blog:  Grandma loses her NEW teeth!